XMen Origins: Vortex
by diego12191
Summary: A prequel to my story "Rivals" focused on Vera and Gambit.
1. Chapter 1

THREE YEARS EARLIER

"Aw, Sabretooth, do you always have to screw them up so much? We just operated on this one less than a month ago!" a doctor groaned. Victor walked past him, Remy strung over his shoulder, ignoring the man's comments. Blood dripped on the floor as he walked.

The main part of Team X's headquarters was a large, concrete room full of cages. He'd been instructed to deposit his burden in the third one on the left. He swung the door open with ease depositing Remy on the floor. The unconscious man's breathing came in gasps, a broken rib stabbing against a lung. One of his arms lay at an unnatural angle and he was covered in slash marks. Victor locked the cage door before turning to leave.

"Victor! It's been a while!" a voice spoke from down the hall. Victor turned to see a familiar man with brown and gray hair approaching him, dressed in military clothes.

"Stryker," Victor replied in greeting.

"So you got Gambit," Stryker said, glancing at the cage where Remy lay, "I heard he attacked you and the other Marauders."

"Yeah," Victor said, attempting to push past the smaller man.

"Have you talked to Logan lately?" Stryker asked, knowing what his answer would be.

Victor stopped in his tracks. "No."

Stryker smiled. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Spit it out then," Victor growled.

Stryker laughed. "Somewhere private, if you don't mind. Follow me." Victor hesitated before complying.

Remy awoke a while later feeling disoriented. He tried to get up and immediately fell back to the ground, gasping in pain. He was in a cell of metal bars with a slightly dirty cement floor. He looked up to see several guards guiding a dark haired girl toward his cage. They were talking as they came closer, but he wasn't interested in their conversation.

The men pointed their guns at Remy as they unlocked the door, pushing her inside. She had unnaturally black eyes that were set in something of a sightless glare. She didn't bother to look at him before moving to sit down on a filthy cot in the corner of the cell. He waited until he couldn't hear them anymore before he tried to look at her again. She was sitting in the same place, staring directly in front of herself. He noticed what appeared to be a single tear adorning her cheek and finger-shaped bruises on her wrists.

Remy stood up slowly, bracing himself against the bars and wincing in pain as his broken arm made contact with the cold metal. His breathing was labored and he had to fight a wave of nausea as he moved to sit down in the cot across from her. "What's your name, fillete?" he asked.

Her eyes were now locked on his, but he saw no recognition there.

"You won't get any talk out of _her_," a man said from the cell behind Remy. He turned to look, seeing a green-tinted mutant peering in at him. "Doctors implanted some type of computer chip in her brain," the mutant continued, his tongue flicking out to wipe at his eye, "She's been under their control as long as I've been here. The doctors were just messing with it again. Apparently she bit one of the guards yesterday, and they wanted to make sure she couldn't do something like that again."

"What commands?" Remy asked, turning from the mutant to the girl, "Why did she bite them?"  
"One of the guys probably got carried away," the man said, shrugging, "Not that this was the first time they'd taken her for a joy ride, if you catch my drift."

Remy whipped back around staring at the mutant in shock, "What?"

The prisoner laughed, "Well, what do you expect? The girl doesn't have any free will; they can do whatever they want with her and she ain't gonna complain."

Remy turned back to the young woman sitting across from him, his uninjured hand clenching in a fist. The green mutant snorted, turning his attention elsewhere.

They were brought food a few hours later; water, bread, and an apple each. Remy noticed the girl only nibbled at hers, her unseeing glare never ceasing. He went to sleep after finishing his own.

Remy walked down a dark, but familiar, street in New Orleans; it took him a while to realize he was dreaming. The air was warm and confetti littered the road, but there was no one else in sight. He felt a strange pull as he walked passed a back-alley, and turned to look. There was a single door at the far end, lit by an overhead lamp. Feeling the strange tug again, he walked toward the door, finding it unlocked and stepping inside.

The room was a perfect, white cube; there was no furniture in the room, and no windows, only the door he'd come through and a similar door on the opposite wall. In the center of the room stood a dark haired girl; she was wearing a white, silk dress and she smiled when he looked at her. He recognized her as his cellmate.

"My name's Vera Musil," she told him, "What's yours?"

"Remy LeBeau," he answered, immediately surprised at himself for giving her his real name. She moved closer, her expression turning thoughtful as she reached out a hand, gently touching his right arm.

"You've been hurt," she said softly, copper-colored eyes looking up to peer into his own.

It seemed an odd thing to say, but he felt in the back of his mind that she was telling the truth. She moved her hand so she was touching his chest now, and her eyes dropped, looking saddened. "And quite a bit at that," she added. Vera pulled her hand away, turning and moving across the room. Remy couldn't help but notice the way her hips gently swayed as she walked.

"You should rest," Vera told him, opening the other door. The room began to dissolve as she closed it behind her.

An odd sensation came over Remy, like he was floating. He felt a numbing cold wash over his arm and side, while he struggled to think, finally giving in to whatever she was doing to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Remy woke up to the sound of someone banging on the cell's door. He blinked, startled, as he quickly sat upright. He was surprised to find his arm and ribs no longer hurt him, although it was obvious they were still broken.

"Wake up," a voice said from the front of the cage. Remy jumped, turning to find a tall man in military garb staring down at him. The man appeared to be somewhat shorter than he was with gray-blue eyes, brown, messy hair, and a young, clean-shaven face. Remy blinked again, trying to adjust to the light, before glancing back inside his cell. He was surprised to see that Vera was missing.

"Where'd you take her?" he asked, turning back to the man at the front of his cell.

"Who, Vortex?" the man asked, looking taken aback, "Lieutenant Rathborn's testing out her new chip."

"Who's Rathborn?" Remy asked, "And how long was I asleep?"

"Rathborn's third-in-command and I wouldn't know," the man said, shrugging, "I was sent here to bring you to Colonel Stryker." Remy frowned, but nodded, hoping for some answers. The man motioned toward his gun, making sure Remy saw, before unlocking the cell door and stepping inside. He quickly cuffed Remy's hands behind his back before leading him out of the cell and down a long hallway.

Remy was impressed with the number of cages. It was clear that Stryker had many more mutants than since he had been there last. "What's your name?" he suddenly asked the soldier who was leading him.

The man looked startled before quickly answering, "Private Marshall Steele."

"Well, Marshall," Remy said, shooting him a smile, "How would you like to play me at cards later today. You seem like a decent guy."

Marshall looked flustered before saying, "I-I'm not supposed to do that. Colonel Stryker warned us that you can use any object as an explosive, including playing cards." Remy sighed, disappointed, but didn't argue.

Stryker's office was directly above the mutant cells. It was next to what looked like a hospital emergency room. One bed appeared to be occupied, with nurses attending to it constantly, but Remy couldn't see who was in it. Marshall opened the door, revealing Stryker sitting at his desk, talking to someone who was standing on the far end of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Remy had to crane his neck around the doorway to see who the person was. His eyes flashed furiously red in recognition.

"Sabretooth," he snarled, easily pushing past Marshall into the room.

Victor looked over at Remy, somewhat startled, but his face quickly morphed into a grin, saying, "Well, hello again, Remy. How's the arm?"

Remy lunged forward as he attempted to slam his shoulder into Victor. He was stopped short, however, crying out in pain and collapsing to the floor as a shock of electricity coursed through his body. Marshall switched off the taser, quickly reattaching it to his belt. He panted from the effort.

"You needn't have bothered, Marshall," Victor said, watching Remy critically as he lay, crumpled, before him, "He's no threat to me." He could visibly see Remy's muscles clench in anger. Victor turned to Stryker who'd been sitting back in his chair, watching intently without speaking. "I'll contact you when phase one is complete," Victor said before stepping over Remy in order to exit the room. He couldn't help but smirk as he left.

"Stand up," Stryker said coldly, his eyes locked on Remy. Marshall quickly moved to help him up, but Remy shrugged him aside, getting up on his own. "Take a seat," Stryker said, motioning toward an uncomfortable looking chair directly in front of his desk. Remy moved to comply, face unreadable. Marshall quickly followed him, standing slightly to his right as he sat down. "You're dismissed, Private," Stryker said, finally addressing Marshall. The man looked at him skeptically, but left quickly, shutting the door behind him. "So here we are again," Stryker said after he was sure Marshall was out of hearing distance.

"What do you want?" Remy snapped bitterly, blood red eyes boring into Stryker's. Stryker only chuckled in response, leaning forward and clasping his hands on the desk.

Stryker said, smoothly, "Do you know why I had Victor deliver you to Sinister?" Remy didn't answer. Stryker sighed before continuing, "You have a very special gift, Remy-"

"You give this speech to everyone?" he interrupted; Stryker smiled coldly.

"But your gift came with unwanted side-effects, didn't it, Remy?" he said, "It's difficult for you to control."

"So you had your little lackey knock me out and drag me to Sinister's just so he could figure out how to bring my powers under control?" Remy asked, disbelieving.

Stryker explained, "If it was just control we were interested in, Sinister would not have been necessary. But although a somewhat bothersome character, Sinister _is_ a master geneticist. He was able to go through your DNA and separate the various elements within. He was able to _isolate_ exactly what we were looking for: your ability to be immune to psychics."

"Well then you have what you want," Remy snapped, "Why keep me here?"

"As a test," Stryker said, shrugging, "A test of your powers, but more importantly, of _hers_."

"Hers?" Remy repeated, truly confused now.

"Surely you noticed your little cellmate," Stryker said, "She's a powerful psychic; one we've been studying for one time. She's helping us to test the extent to which we can control mutants with strong minds. However, what's interesting about her is that her mutation seems to still be evolving." He paused, reaching under his desk to grab a flask of some sort. He took a drink before going on, "Now, you, on the other hand, finally have a stable mutation, and part of your mutation is the ability to block psychics from your mind. This is an incredible experiment for us. We are currently programming Vortex to try and reach your mind with her own. How long you can keep her from doing so once you are both returned to your cell, however, will determine how useful your mutation is."

"What will happen if she succeeds in getting through to me?" Remy asked, voice completely flat.

"_That_ is something we can't predict," Stryker answered, simply, "But something I, personally, am very interested to find out."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Remy stood up, heading for the door, his arms still chained behind his back.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stryker asked, following him with his eyes, "Sit down."

"We're done here," Remy said simply.

"I said 'Sit down,'" Stryker responded curtly, his voice was calm but demanding.

"I'm ready to go back to my cell," Remy said, ignoring his command, "Call the guard."

"I'm afraid you don't get to make that decision," Stryker said, coldly. Remy didn't answer instead continuing to stare ahead at the door. "I heard what happened with you and the Marauders," Stryker said, after a pause. Remy's back tensed but he still neither did nor said anything. "You murdered your own kind," Stryker continued, a cruel smile spreading across his face, "Women and children, all slaughtered."

"Shut up," Remy said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. He was still facing the door, his muscles clenched.

"_You_ lead the group," Stryker said, ignoring Remy's words, "_You_ came up with the plan, _you_ found their hideout, and _you _lead those murderers to their door."

"It wasn't," Remy murmured, shaking slightly, "_my_ choice!" he finished with a yell, still facing the door.

"Of course it was your choice," Stryker said with a shrug, "Just like it was your choice to leave." He paused again. "I heard you were ruthless, bloodthirsty," he said,"It was more than just control, it was your nature. You were like an animal."

"I said _shut up_!" Remy roared, whipping around and covering the length of the room in several quick strides. His entire body surged with power, surrounding him like static and making his hair stand on end. His eyes were wild, the color of blood, and the shackles around his wrists shuddered, struggling to keep him secure. He knocked the desk out of his way, not noticing the door opening behind him, as he surged forward.

Stryker had barely made it to his feet by the time Remy made it to him, striking out with his foot which connected with Stryker's shin. Stryker collapsed, clutching his leg in pain. Remy swung out again, but was yanked back by a sudden strong, clawed hand on the back of his shirt, holding him up and choking him slightly. He turned his head just in time to see Victor behind him out of the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything, he felt a damp cloth pressed against his face. He gasped; realizing what it was attempted to hold his breath, but Victor simply pressed the cloth against his face harder. Remy thought he heard Victor laugh as his legs folded beneath him as he collapsed to the floor, losing consciousness.

"Pick him up, Victor," Stryker ordered as soon as he had passed out, "Carry him to the operating room." Victor nodded, grinning down at Remy as he hoisted him over his shoulder. Stryker rolled his eyes as he walked out the door, not bothering to hold it for Victor, but he didn't mind. He made his way down the hallway barely taking note of any of his surroundings as he followed Stryker. Finally, he saw the tall stainless steel swinging doors that lead into the operating room.

Victor took no care to steer Remy clear of the swinging door and it hit him square in the back.

"Careful!" the doctor yelled at Victor, "We don't want to give him _new_ bruises." Victor rolled his eyes, dumping Remy on the table so hard, the doctor grimaced.

Victor held Remy still as the doctor injected him with the anesthetic, to ensure Remy wouldn't regain consciousness during the surgery. Victor made sure the doctor was finished before walking across the room and over to Stryker "We need to talk about our deal," Victor said, eyes narrowed.

Stryker hesitated slightly before answering, "What else do we need to talk about?"

Victor glared at Stryker, his jaw clenched, "You're sure the adamantium procedure will work, right?" he asked.

Stryker looked at him thoughtfully, "Nothing's for sure until we try it, but preliminary tests have proved most promising," he answered. Victor continued to scowl almost skeptically.

"_Promising_ isn't good enough," Victor growled at last.

"Surely you're not worried about _James_," Stryker said with a disturbingly soothing voice, a voice that always put Victor on edge. "Don't you remember how he walked out us, on _you_?" Stryker continued.

"My concern **isn't** for Jimmy," Victor said quickly, "I just want to make sure you keep up your end of the bargain. If he gets adamantium so do I."

"Of course," Stryker said with a smile, "You're one of my favorite soldiers, Victor. You have my word." Victor nodded and turned to leave. "Before you go," Stryker said suddenly, causing Victor to pause, "Would you mind leading Vortex back to her cell?"

"I'm not your errand-boy," Victor grumbled.

"I don't think you are, Victor," Stryker said, "I was simply hoping you could find out why Rathborn's been taking longer than I'd anticipated with the new programming."

"Fine," Victor said, "I'll be back in a bit." Victor growled and walked through the swinging doors, back into the hallway. As he walked, he noticed, another set of double doors. Peering inside he saw a small group, a doctor and a few nurses, standing over a table, looking down at a wide-eyed man. Victor looked for only a second before he headed down the nearest staircase, taking a turn to walk through the nearest row of cages. Some of the mutants swore at him, flinging themselves against the bars as he walked past, but he ignored them, not stopping until he made it to a side-door, at the end of the row of cages. He didn't bother to knock before stepping inside.

The room was made entirely of concrete with a small hospital bed in the center and a row of computers along the far wall. There was an overhead light that illuminated the center of the room where Vera was sitting. She wore a blank expression, but her eyes followed Victor as he entered the room. Rathborn was standing over one of the computers, shoulders hunched as he typed.

"Stryker wants to know what's taking so long," Victor muttered in irritation. Rathborn jumped, having not realized he had entered the room. Victor rolled his eyes, Rathborn had always bothered him.

"She's being non-responsive," Rathborn said quickly, "I tried to give her some _incentive_ but she still won't do as she's told." Victor gazed at Vera again, this time noticing the light bruise on her jaw-bone that looked fairly fresh.

"You're not supposed to leave any markings on her that weren't there last night," Victor said, not bothering to look at Rathborn as he spoke.

"Gambit won't notice," Rathborn said as he pounded the 'enter' key.

"Gambit?" Victor asked, still staring at the girl.

Suddenly, Vera let out a scream, convulsing as if she was being electrocuted. She stopped just as quickly as she'd started, collapsing back onto the bed. Victor could hear the sound of her tears hitting the vinyl covering of the hospital bed. He watched as the girl continued to shudder.

"That should do it," Rathborn said, sounding satisfied as he turned away from the computer screen.

"Who's 'Gambit'?" Victor repeated, now looking at Rathborn.

"Just what some of the guards call LeBeau," Rathborn explained, "Apparently the last time he was here he was renowned for beating them at cards." Victor nodded slightly but didn't respond. "Do you need to take her back to her cell now?" Rathborn asked.

"Yeah," Victor said, "Assuming everything works." Rathborn nodded. "Good," Victor said as he pulled Vera by the wrist until she was standing. He looked back at Rathborn with a smile, showing off his elongated canines, before he grabbed Vera by the back of the neck, guiding her out of the room.

They walked partway down the hall, neither one looking at each other until they made it to her original cell where she had stayed with Remy. Victor opened the door for her, pushing her so that she tripped as she stepped inside. Vera didn't make a sound but moved semi-gracefully to sit on the edge of her cot. She stared back at him as she settled, her eyes dark and unreadable.

Victor slammed the cage shut, making sure it was locked. He moved to leave, but stopped, turning to look in at her and hitching his claws through the grate.

"Well, Vortex," Victor said, looking down at her, "You better be ready to have some _fun_ with your new friend. Because he's about to get really confused." With that he chuckled evilly and left, knowing that Remy's surgery wouldn't take much longer. He headed back to the operating room.

He pushed through the stainless steel doors and into the operating room once more.

"She's back in her cage," Victor muttered to Stryker as he moved to lean against the nearest wall, crossing his arms in front of him. Stryker nodded slightly but didn't answer. Victor could hear the doctor complaining under his breath, something about "manhandling the target." Victor smirked slightly, but didn't bother to respond, knowing it would prolong the surgery even more.

"How much longer Falk?" Stryker said suddenly, and sharply, making the doctor jump slightly, he was clearly lost in his work.

"I couldn't tell you," Falk responded, "It depends how much more internal damage I find." Victor didn't have to look to know that both men were now glaring at him. He gazed back at the doctor and shrugged.  
"I can't help it if he struggled," Victor said, still smirking a little.

"He shouldn't have been a problem," Stryker said with a frown.

"I know," Victor replied, "I just didn't like him struggling." Stryker frowned slightly at Victor and rolled his eyes, before turning away. Victor knew that he was concealing an amused grin. Falk glared down at the operating table, picking up an instrument and continuing to work. Victor could hear the faint sounds of a drill boring into bone then whirring as it was removed again.

"What are you doing?" Stryker asked looking surprised as he peered over the operating table.

"I removed the fractured false rib," the doctor began, "And I've already replaced the broken part of this rib with a metal rod, considering it would be impossible to repair it under these time constraints."

"Mm," Stryker replied, his hands clasped behind his back in a pensive manner, "Very well then, stitch him up." The doctor nodded and started the process of repairing the flesh.

"Don't forget to wrap his torso," Stryker added, the doctor nodded. Victor noticed that they had already set and wrapped Remy's wrist and forearm. Victor moved closer to stand behind Falk, doing his best to make him feel uncomfortable.

"So Andrew," Victor said, hovering over him, "How much longer until I can take him back to his cell?" The doctor jumped, Victor had always enjoyed the fear others had for him, especially Falk, who seemed particularly jumpy around him.

"Just a few minutes," Falk stammered. Victor smiled as he leaned over the doctor's shoulder. He chuckled in his ear, making the doctor shiver in fear.

"Leave him, Victor," Stryker said, glaring over at him. Victor smiled and stepped away from the doctor, returning to lean against the wall again. He waited patiently as Falk finished stitching and wrapping Remy's torso. By the time he was done, Victor was pacing back and forth across the doorway.

"Victor!" Stryker barked; Victor turned to glare at him, claws extended. "Take him to his cell." Victor nodded once, and moved to the operating table, picking up Remy easily in his arms and carrying him out of the door, this time making sure not to let the door hit him. Victor walked down the hallway and back down the stairs easily, still making sure not to bump or injure Remy any further. When he reached the cell he opened the door, knowing that Vera would be unlikely to try to escape. He set Remy down on the cot, not looking at Vera until he stood up again. He turned to her, she hadn't moved since he had last seen her, but her eyes followed him as he moved around the cell. Victor hurried to leave, slamming the door behind him.

Vera turned her attention back to Remy. Victor had left him lying on his cot in the same way he had been when he fell asleep last night. His shirt had been removed and his chest and arm were wrapped in plain white cloth. She watched him, unblinking, as he slept. A cold sweat covered his brow and his breathing was strained; he seemed unwell.

Stryker stopped by not long after Victor dropped Remy off. He unlocked the door and opened it just far enough to throw a dark, maroon colored fabric into the cell before shutting the door again and locking it as he left.

Remy slowly came to a short while later. He blinked several times, trying to adjust to the light and feeling utterly disoriented. He attempted to sit up but immediately fell back onto the cot, gasping at the pain in his side. The room appeared to be spinning around him and his head was throbbing. After the dizziness subsided, Remy tried to get up again, this time more slowly. He was startled, looking down at himself, to see that his torso and arm had been bandaged. Looking across the cell he saw his shirt crumpled up on the floor.

Remy suddenly felt someone watching him intently and he looked up again to find Vera staring at him from her cot. He was surprised to see her there again, but remembering Striker's speech about her using her powers on him, he looked at her with great wariness.

"When did you get back?" he asked, trying to keep the panic from edging into his voice.

She looked at him blankly for a while before answering. "What are you talking about?" she said at last, "I never left."

----

(A/N: This was a collab by myself and kshires09.)


End file.
